Welding - Learning a New Skill at Thosamling Nunnery

Recently as the kitchen at Thosamling underwent a major reorganization, it became evident that for safety purposes the large gas canisters used to fire the gas stove and oven that are housed in the kitchen under the cabinets should be shifted outdoors behind the kitchen.

In order to safely store them and run the connections into the kitchen, it was decided that a large metal storage area was needed to house the gas tanks. When Sangmo, the abbess, and Fred our handy man looked into the costs involved in constructing this, the bill would be 18,000 INR. There are also numerous other projects around the nunnery that require welding, such as wood storage unites, hay storage units, gardening structures, benches and a prayerwheel stand inside the front gate.

Also totaled these would run well over 150,000 INR to pay someone else to construct. Fred recalled he had learned basic welding in his earlier years, and decided to look into purchasing a welding machine and hiring a local welder to come to Thosamling to teach how to use the machine and learn some basic techniques properly. For a cost of 50,000 INR we decided to invest in a welding machine and iron and to do the labor ourselves.

Construction began immediately to construct the outdoor gas canister storage unit as well as the hay storage unit. Sangmo and Fred were the first to learn to use the welding machine, and now we are able to save the costs of paying for a long list of future projects, which will in the long run save the nunnery over 100,000 INR. This is yet another example of our attempt to be as self sufficient and conservative of our precious financial resources as possible. Thank you to everyone who generously supports Thosamling and be reassured we value your investment and use it wisely.